Clarinets and other woodwind instruments depend upon the internal volume of their complete assembly for obtaining particular tonal characteristics. Since clarinets offered by the same manufacturer may have different tonal qualities, to the ears of an expert, professional musicians quite often possess a plurality of instruments for obtaining various tones. A particular clarinet may be favored for example, for performing one musical piece whereas another clarinet having slightly different tonal properties, may be favored for performing a different musical piece.
Tuning barrels are commonly employed for slightly changing the pitch of a clarinet when tuning may become necessary. U.S. Pat. No. 2,323,138 describes a tuning barrel slidably attached to the clarinet mouthpiece for changing the effective length of the barrel to result in a variation in pitch.
Another method for varying the pitch of a clarinet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,651. The pitch variation is accomplished therein by altering the internal bore diameter of the clarinet barrel while keeping the barrel length constant.
Problems often occur in attempting to match a mouthpiece obtained from one manufacturer within an instrument obtained from another manufacture. A mismatch of only a few thousandths of an inch between the diameters of the barrel of an instrument and the mouthpiece of an instrument can noticeably affect the tuning pitch of the instrument in some instances. Since musicians often change mouthpieces on the same instrument it would be highly advantageous to provide for slight changes in the size and taper of the barrel of the instrument in order to satisfactorily adapt the instrument to each different mouthpiece.
The purpose of this invention is to provide means for varying the tonal properties of a clarinet over a wide range of individual preferences by inserting one of a plurality of removable barrel inserts having different internal volumes. Each individual barrel insert provides the same effect as a new and different instrument so that the expert musician can have an entire repertoire of tonal variations within a single instrument.